One of our favorite family activities happens for three weekends once a year -- Open Studios. We are really lucky to live in a place that has such a great variety of working artists. From the little pictures in the catalog (which you can buy at pretty much any bookstore in town, as well as art supply stores), it's hard to tell what your kids might like. So we do a combination of revisiting our favorites and making nearly random stabs in the dark.

As much as I wanted his first word to be "kitty," I believe our son's first word was "this." He pronounced it very cutely as "dis" and it referred to pretty much anything he thought was interesting. When he was still riding face out in a Baby Bjorn, we took him to his first Open Studios. He very quickly made his opinions clear: some artists would get a few "dis"s -- others, silence. Upon entering a room at one of our favorite stops, the funky and populous 17th Avenue Studios, he started kicking his feet and pointing in amazement. "Dis!" he told me. "Dis!" (Continue......)

Another art form is here October 17-22 for our enjoyment, international films! They're free! It's the 20th Anniversary of the Pacific Rim Film Festival. You can choose among 17 films. Three films, descriptions below, are recommended as "family/children appropriate." These sound like the kind of films that can inspire all ages in the family and in addition to entertainment, offer up pithy content for thought and discussion.

KAMOME DINER (Japan) In search of a new life, 38-year-old Sachie has left Japan and opened a small Japanese eating-house in Helsinki, Finland. Through her restaurant, Kamome Diner, Saichi hopes to share the benefits of her Japanese soul food and signature dish of onigiri (rice balls). However, the only customer who seems to take interest is Tommi, a Finnish young man with a passion for Japanese culture and a t-shirt featuring anime character "Nyarome."

As Saichi continues her daily routine and works to keep her one customer happy, she comes across Midori, another Japanese women who decided on Finland by closing her eyes and pointing at a world map. She starts helping at the diner, and they continue to encourage reluctant Finnish townspeople with cross-cultural experiments such as rice balls with reindeer or herring. Eventually they are joined by another Japanese woman, Masako, and a middle-aged Finnish man who teaches them how to make and serve good, strong coffee. Through the diner, each person seems to find a new beginning and place to belong. The customers start arriving and Saichi's dream to share her soul food is realized. "Kamome Diner conveys the topsy-turvy sensation of being a stranger in a strange land, while presenting food, no matter how alien it may be, as the center of community and cultural understanding." - Anderson Le, HIFF 2007

10/18 7pm & 10/19 1pm Del Mar, Santa Cruz

LAHAINA: WAVES OF CHANGE(USA) Most people think of Lahaina as a bustling, congested tourist destination. As far as Lahaina’s past is concerned, most think of it as a whaling town. Lahaina is both these things, but just below its surface one will find so much more: the center of West Maui’s sugar industry; home to the first school west of the Rockies and Hawai‘i’s first Hawaiian language Newspaper; the capitol of the Hawaiian Kingdom prior to its move to Honolulu; the home of Hawaii’s longest reigning monarch, Kamehameha III, and the site of that king’s sacred residence—Moku‘ula—now buried beneath a baseball field.

Hawaiian music legend and filmmaker Eddie Kamae rediscovered Lahaina’s rich past when he went there to document the closing of Pioneer Mill in 1999, which marked the end of an era that was an important part of Eddie’s childhood. (He had spent summers at his grandmother’s home in the Lahaina plantation village of Waine‘e.)

Like an historical detective, Eddie leads us through all of the many changes Lahaina has undergone over the past two hundred years and looks at what Lahaina is today, as its residents speculate about its future. What Eddie and his audience discover through the course of LAHAINA: Waves of Change is that despite all of the radical changes Lahaina has experienced over the years, it remains a sacred, Hawaiian place, not because of what has been built upon it, but because of what is in the hearts of the people who live there.

10/20 7:30pm Del Mar

WHAT THE SNOW BRINGS(Japan) Manabu Yazaki, who had big dreams of success in Tokyo, loses his high-class lifestyle, as well as his family, and returns home to the Hokkaido heartland in midwinter. There, his elder brother Takeo manages a stable for the "Banei horserace", a sleigh-pulling race unique to Hokkaido. Takeo is not quick to embrace his brother's return, since Manabu left them 13 years ago to attend college in Tokyo, found a company, and get married. However, once he finds out that his brother has lost all that he worked for, Takeo offers to let him stay and earn his keep working in the stable.

Despite the many years that Manabu have been gone, Takeo still keeps his guard up and does not let his brother see their aging mother who is living in a nursing home. Over time, Manabu makes friends with the sometimes quirky stable workers and cares for the horses as they face the challenges of racing day in and day out. Gradually the two men develop an understanding between them. In the end, Manabu puts his all into taking care of the horse that was supposed to be killed for not taking home the prize money. For Manabu, this becomes his chance to "reset" his own life and a hope for his new start.

10/19 7pm & 10/20 3:30pm Del Mar

Matched Savings Account Offer

for "Low-Wealth" Families

An opportunity to open a savings account, have every dollar matched up to $2,000 (so you end up with $4,000) and participate in financial education is available through Santa Cruz Community Credit Union. To learn more about this program, its requirements and restrictions, go here.

You know them! Tell us about

Mighty Fine Moms and Dads in Santa Cruz County.

Do you know parents who should receive recognition for all that they do? We would love to hear about them. We shall feature the moms in Mom's Spotlight and our awesome dads on our Dad's Scoreboard! Please email us your nomination and tell us why.

Events for Your Enjoyment!

Oct 18 & 19, All Artists Studios are Open Sat & Sun!

This is the last weekend for Open Studios. Art Tour information is available on the website, Open Studios, hours 11am-6pm.

Please go to the calendar for details and click on the day of the event that interests you.

Capitola Book Cafe, 7:30pm, SARK, Juicy Pens, Thirsty Paper: Gifting the World with Your Words and Stories, and Creating the Time and Energy to Actually Do It. SARK is a sparkler who jump-starts the creative process. Her ideas are user-friendly, innovative, and pragmatic.” –Julia Cameron

Louden Nelson, 7pm, Homeschooling: Is It For You? Dr. Dorothee Ledbetter, Workshop $24, Is your child is challenged at school? Have you been intrigued by the idea of homeschooling? Do you want to explore options to give your kid the best possible start in life? Come to a 2-hour Class to Answer Homeschool Questions. Sign up with Parks & Rec.

Seymour Center, 6pm, The Rhino with Glue-on Shoes and Other Surprising True Stories of Zoo Vets and Their PatientsA special evening with world renowned zoo and wildlife veterinarian Dr. Lucy H. Spelman, the current regional manager for the Mountain Gorilla Veterinary Project in Africa and former director of the National Zoo in Washington, D.C. She'll offer a fascinating insider's look at wild animals, the dedicated professionals that care for them, and the special bonds that develop between them.

Mother and Child. Infant Massage Class up to age one,$40, Register through Sutter, Santa Cruz, A two hour class where parents and caregivers will learn techniques for reducing colic, gas, congestion and teething discomfort. Promotes bonding, mindful communication and sounder sleep; improves digestion; and helps baby learn to relax. Parents will learn to understand baby's non-verbal cues. A combination of Swedish, Indian and reflexology techniques will be included.

Sat & Sun, Oct 18 & 19

Garage Sale Weekend, All Santa Cruz County. One Person's Trash is Another's Treasure! Garage Sale Weekend is a grassroots awareness campaign held each October to promote re-use, repair, resale and donation opportunities throughout California. Give your stuff a second life. No "stuff" in your house? Go out and find a treasure!

Half Moon Bay Art & Pumpkin Festival. Year after year, festival goers enjoy a memorable experience with the special display of massive weigh-off champion pumpkins, the remarkable "Picasso of pumpkin carvers" sculpting and shaping a monster 1,000+ pound pumpkin, three stages of blockbuster entertainment, everyone's favorite home-spun parade, harvest-inspired crafts, the tastiest pumpkin pie on the planet, enchanting events and contests for the whole family, and the never-ending search for the Great Pumpkin waiting to be picked from one of the rustic pumpkin patches dotting the coast.

Oct 17-Oct 22Pacific Rim Film Festival. Free for 16 films, $15 for Benefit 10/22. Seating is on a first-come, first-serve basis. This year is the 20th anniversary of the Pacific Rim Film Festival and proudly marks two decades of offering free screenings of international feature films and documentaries to the Santa Cruz community.

Tues, Oct 21, 7-9pm, Pregnant? Come to the Birthnet Fall Expo, Simpkins Family Swim Center Community Room, 979 17th Ave. The evening is packed with positive energy and valuable resources for pregnant and postpartum women and their families. We will be showing the DVD "It's My Baby, My Body, My Birth." This event is always free to the public, (donations welcome). Be sure to tell any pregnant friends or clients about the Fall Expo, the Winter Expo won't be here until January.

October!! When you go to our calendar click on the pull-down menu and select Harvest & Halloween. A jack o'lantern will designate Halloween Events, pumpkin patches and harvest-related events! Check back frequently as we shall be adding events as they come in. Calendar Details

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